Lara Adrian's vampire series is very similar to J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books. This isnít a bad thing - Ward's books are quite good - but it does mean that each new book from Lara Adrian doesn't feel as fresh as it could. The same is true of the newest release, Veil of Midnight, which follows the love life of vampire Nikolai. Always rather a sketchy character in previous books, we didnít read all that much about Nikolai, who wasn't generally the center of the action.

In Veil of Midnight, Nikolai is sent to Montreal to check up on one of the few remaining Gen One vampires, the unpleasant Sergei Yakut. The events of this story follow from previous ones, so a newcomer to the series might not entirely follow what's going on. The Gen One vampires are being killed, and the Order (a warrior group of vampires) are trying to protect these earliest vampires, the result of a mating between alien beings and humans.

Nikolai doesn't get much of a welcome from Sergei Yakut, unfortunately, but he does bump into one of Sergei's women. Renata possesses a certain psychic power that can temporarily disable vampires; she is also looking after a young girl, Mira, who can predict the future. When Sergei Yakut is attacked, Nikolai is kidnapped. His rescue comes, unexpectedly, from Renata, who needs him to help her rescue Mira. But Renata doesn't trust the vampires, and it's possible that her mission to rescue Mira might work against the plans of the Order to get to the bottom of the attacks on the Gen One vampires.

I enjoyed reading this book, finding Adrianís pacing good as always. The characterization, though, is a bit sparse. I didn't know Niko before the story began; I didn't know him a great deal more afterwards. Renata, too, is sometimes something of a mystery, although she is an appealing heroine. Other parts of the plot are moved on, such as the occasional focus on Andreas Reichen in Berlin, but the overall story in this volume feels thin at times. Veil of Midnight is enjoyable, but perhaps a little more run-of-the-mill than some of its predecessors.